Airlines testing paperless cockpit.

• Position: GOING GREEN - Brief article

Pilots routinely drag flight bags weighing 35 pounds or more full of paper flight materials with them to the cockpit, according to National Public Radio (NPR).

But a few airlines have found that by making such data digital, they can save more than $1.2 million annually in fuel costs. American Airlines and the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the union for the airlines' pilots, are testing the use of iPads "from gate to gate during all phases of flight," according to an American Airlines spokesperson.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-approved tests, which began in June with Los Angeles-based pilots using iPads on two flights headed to Shanghai, will last for six months, American said. The tests are a final step before the FAA approves iPads for use as electronic flight bags, allowing crews to perform many tasks that today are mostly handled by paper. The iPads include reference materials, including navigational charts and flight manuals, as well as electronic charting capability, which offers pilots a digital image of their route, The Washington Post reported.

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"By eliminating bulky flight...